Cold Face
by Uudam
Summary: Jan, Runo and Bjorn, young sons of the Guardian of Fun and the Snow Queen, learn an important life lesson from their mother.


**Quick note: Bjorn is pronounced "Bee-YERN." I hope you like this oneshot. :)**

**Update: I didn't realize until much later that there was already a character in Frozen named Kai. So for Jack and Elsa's son, his name is now Runo.**

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**Cold Face**

A crisp, beautiful winter day permeated all of Arendelle. Queen Elsa rode with her 3 sons to the river farther down the fjord. Jack Frost, her consort, preferred to caper in light leaps. His feet made no sound as they touched and left the grass. Jan and Runo, 10 year old twins, each rode a mount. Bjorn, the youngest at 5 years, sat in front of his mother. The little boy leaned against Elsa, firm and content in her embrace.

Runo visibly struggled to keep pace with his family and hold back the urge to spur his horse ahead. Along the way he kept asking what they would be doing today.

Finally Jan burst out in exasperation. "I don't know! Can you be quiet, Runo? Mother said it was a surprise."

Runo was unfazed by his brother's anger. "I like surprises. I know what she said. That's why I keep asking questions...builds up the suspense, you know?"

Jan only sighed and rolled his eyes. A few feet behind the twins, Jack kept pace with Elsa's horse as he talked with his wife.

"The stable boy called me Lord Frost..._again_! It makes me feel old. Just Jack would be fine."

Elsa couldn't help but smile. "You're my spouse. Dropping formalities for someone like you isn't something my subjects are used to."

Jack shrugged. "Suits and capes aren't for me, either. How can I fly and jump around with that stuff weighing me down?"

"Why are we going to the river, Mom?" Runo asked for what seemed like the millionth time. They had lunch in the castle an hour ago, with Aunt Anna, Uncle Kristoff and their 2 cousins. So it couldn't be that. Jan and Bjorn were curious too. As queen, Elsa didn't get to spend time with her children as often as she would like. Jack was usually the one taking them out for fun and games.

"You'll see when we get there," she replied. After a few minutes of riding through a green field, she spoke up again. "We're not far from it now. Go on ahead if you want."

Runo gripped the reins with renewed vigor. "Race you, Dad!"

"You're on!"

Jack let out a whoop, and like an arrow he shot ahead. Runo laughed and made his horse break into a gallop. He howled like a wolf to match his father's monkey-like hoots.

Elsa watched with great amusement as her husband and son dashed off. Despite being the heir of Arendelle, and older than Jan by 15 minutes, Runo certainly didn't act like the eldest.

Bjorn turned to Jan with confusion. "You're not racing, big brother?"

"I don't feel like it."

Jan's snappy reply made Bjorn cringe. He leaned closer to his mother for comfort. Elsa briefly put a hand over his head, but remained silent. She knew better than to stoke the fire of Jan's temper by reproving him. This was supposed to be a nice day with her family; Jan only brought it on himself if he didn't want to enjoy it.

At the shady grove near the river, Jack had slowed down at the last second to let Runo speed past him. The boy noticed. He slowed his horse to a canter and turned him round.

"Dad, I'm not a kid anymore. I can race you for real. Maybe even beat you."

Runo wasn't making a complaint. Jack winked at hearing his son's competitive spirit. "Next time, then. I won't go easy."

Jack helped Bjorn down from the horse. Next he helped his wife, clasping her hand and kissing it as she climbed down. The queen of Arendelle looked on with approval as Jan and Runo dismounted and tethered their own horses.

"They're growing fast," she murmured to Jack.

"Too fast for me," he replied. "Who knows how much longer I can play with them? Before we know it, they'll be grown men and Runo will marry a beautiful princess."

"I hope I can prepare them for that." Her gaze fell on Jan and Runo as they approached the river's edge and stared down at the flowing water. Elsa walked over join them.

"Bring Bjorn close," she called to Jack. "I'll have him listen even if he's too young to get in."

She saw Jan and Runo exchange a worried glance at this confirmation of their trip's purpose. Neither relished the idea of stepping into an icy river. Even if their parents commanded the very ice and snow. They were still young boys, their powers raw and unrefined. Elsa felt it was her responsibility to nurse that potential, and teach them to control it early.

She cleared her throat to get the boys' attention. "I called our family to the river today to teach you two an important lesson. Jan, Runo...you can't be boys forever. Someday you'll grow up to inherit Arendelle. You will rule and guide the realm...and defend it, if times of war ever fall upon us."

Elsa stared down at her sons, feeling a swell of pride as they listened attentively. "You need to be ready. You need a way to let go of all your fear, doubts, pain...whatever feelings that keep you from being the best men you can possibly be. I call that way the cold face. The warrior's face that gives nothing away to the enemy. It comes from a strength here," she touched her forehead. "And here." Then she touched her chest. "Mind and heart. You must keep them as strong as the body."

Jan nodded solemnly, while Runo looked up to his mother with bright, wide-eyed enthusiasm. Whether he was really listening or not, she couldn't tell. Her father always taught her to conceal, not feel. Thinking back to the mistakes she had made years ago, Elsa didn't want her children to suffer through trying and failing to follow that mantra. She would teach them not to conceal, but to let it go.

Jan and Runo waited, wondering what she was going to do next.

Elsa stepped back and faced the river. She loosened her tight bun, letting her braid gently tumble down her left shoulder. With a wave of her hand, she did away with her dress of wool to replace it with a gown of ice crystals. Jack watched her with a fond smile. Queen of Arendelle or Snow Queen, he loved both sides of her.

Jack's smile faded when he caught sight of her leg between the slit of her gown. The scar was still there. 6 years ago, before Bjorn was born, a neighboring kingdom bent on conquest invaded Arendelle. Elsa had no choice but to declare war. Both a formidable tactician and combatant, she headed her forces and often took part in battles herself. Arendelle won, but the victory came with a price. In the final push to defeat the invaders, Elsa took an enemy pike straight through the leg. On her pale skin and under the sleeves of her gown, it was hard to see them at first glance. But Jack knew she bore scars from cuts made by arrows and swords as well. She showed no signs of a limp now; only a few months ago she fully recovered from her wounds.

"I'll demonstrate now. Watch closely," she said to her boys.

Elsa dipped her legs into the running water, and waded in with no hesitation. Her strides were smooth and poised, as if she walked through the usual castle halls instead of a freezing torrent. The water reached up to her slender stomach. As she approached the waterfall, she knelt down and sat cross-legged, completely immersing herself in the icy deluge. The whole time she kept her face blank and without expression. Her eyes were half-closed, her normally bright blue irises darkened and glazed in both tranquility and intense concentration.

The 3 boys watched with fascination, seized with a reverent awe for their mother.

Elsa seemed completely at ease with the surging flood of icy water. Contrary to what most people thought, Elsa _did_ feel the cold. But to ward off the effects that slowly killed the body...it was just a matter of enforcing discipline within herself, and the desire to be one with the cold instead of fighting it. Her sons had that power, too. She would have them tap into that soon enough.

Her face softened as she gave them an encouraging smile. "Come on in, but you don't have to be under the waterfall with me."

Jan and Runo exchanged a look, silently daring each other. Jan saw everything as a competition. Runo saw everything as a game. Elsa suppressed a sigh. She would have to make them get along somehow.

Runo was the first to break the tension. He shrugged and stripped down, pulling off his shirt and leaving only his leggings. He walked over and plunged his slender, pale body into the water. Runo sucked in an explosive gasp, but only for a flash of a second. He looked back to the edge and grinned at Jan.

The younger twin only glared back with disdain. "You're cold. You just don't want to admit it," he muttered.

Jan untied his own clothes and dropped them on the grass. That left Bjorn standing forlornly on the bank, next to Jack. He watched his older brothers join their mother in the frigid waters. With great reluctance, he too began to pull at his shirt with fumbling little hands. Elsa chuckled, pleased with her youngest son's courage. He tottered closer to the river's edge.

She spoke before Jack could interfere. "Not you, Bjorn. Perhaps next year, but not this time. Stay with Papa and listen."

Obvious relief made the 5 year old boy's face flush. Jack took his hand to guide him back to the horses.

"Come on, little man. You heard Mama."

Bjorn plopped down on the grass with his father. He beamed at his mother with a toothy grin. Elsa returned it with a loving smile of her own.

Runo had chosen a pool at the edge of the river, where the water was still. He watched Elsa with all but his head submerged. If he was keeping his jaw clamped against chattering teeth, he didn't show it in his easy smile.

"In water this cold, your body begins to die at the feet and hands first. You'll feel them grow numb and useless. Then your heartbeat and thoughts will slow. That's what will happen if you let your fear and pain get the better of you."

Jan seemed to be struggling against the cold. He flinched as a swell of water hit his chest.

"Show me nothing of what you feel," she said to them. "Show me the cold face that you'll show to whatever stands in your way. Don't fight the cold...let it be one with you. Let go of your fear...let it wash away with the river."

The young princes of Arendelle struggled to empty their faces of fear and pain. On the bank, little Bjorn mimicked them in earnest concentration.

Elsa continued to instruct the boys. "Breathe gently through the nose to slow your heart. Flesh is a weak thing, but you can choose not to listen to its pleas."

Jack knew she held true to her words. When healers had removed the pike from her leg, she nearly bled to death and almost passed out from the pain even as herbal poultices numbed her senses. But she remained strong.

"Calm the storm inside you. Show me nothing."

Runo understood at once. His sipping breath became slow and long, in perfect imitation of his mother's. He lost his grin as he schooled his features into an expressionless mask. Jan struggled to do the same as he shut his eyes and gritted his teeth. But cold made his breath come in and out in loud, shaky staccatos. It came at last, close to the time Elsa knew she had to end it before they passed out.

She rose to her feet and stepped out of the waterfall. She expected having to lift the limp boys to the bank, and went to take hold of the first.

Instead, Runo stood with her. His pale body bloomed pink with blood under his skin. He sent drops flying as he shook his messy white hair.

"It's okay, Mom. I got this." His voice was cheerful, with no trace of discomfort. He walked stiffly back.

Elsa turned and took hold of Jan's arm. He stirred drowsily, his eyes glassy. When he saw Runo heading for the bank, he staggered to his feet. He nearly slipped from the mud below the surface.

Jan and Runo stood with their mother, gasping as their limbs came back to life in hot, burning needles.

"Did it kill you?" Elsa asked them.

Runo flashed a cheeky grin. "Almost."

That made her laugh. Jan remained resentfully silent, his tight lips nearly blue from the cold.

"Don't let the fear in your mind and the weakness of your body rule you," Elsa said, as much for herself as for them. "Strengthen your mind and heart, and you can do anything."

Runo beamed at her. "Thanks for teaching us, Mom. The cold won't bother me anymore."

He ran off to dry under the sun, and played a game of tag with his father. Bjorn got up and joined them. Jack whipped up a snowy flurry, trying to obscure himself from view and run out of Runo's reach. But the boy leapt forward to tackle Jack. They fell into the grass laughing; Bjorn threw himself on top of them.

Jan remained with Elsa. He still shuddered violently. She saw the tautness of his jaw, as he tried his very hardest not to look weak in front of his mother. Though all her boys showed signs of icy powers at birth, it didn't come so easily to Jan. Runo made it look like a natural talent; he barely had to think. Jan seemed all too aware of this.

"Jan, are you all right?" she softly asked.

He shook his head. "Father takes us out for fun and games. You take us out for serious things. I was supposed to be better than Runo at this, but I'm not."

"It's not a matter of who's better and who's worse. Both of you did well."

"You can't say that when it comes to the throne. Arendelle has room for only 1 ruler. Runo will succeed, not me." Jan instantly regretted his heated reply. He lowered his voice to a sheepish mutter. "Forgive me, Mother."

Sometimes Elsa wished that in his young age, he didn't have to be so formal with his parents.

"I'm not jealous, or anything like that," he continued. "I'm just worried about Runo. If he's going to be king someday, he needs to be more mature and responsible."

"He will, in due time. Let him enjoy being young." Elsa fondly looked down at Jan. "I'm happy that you show concern for your brother." She saw so much of herself in her middle child, the way he acted serious beyond his years.

Elsa tried to be careful with her words. "I think that you two can learn from each other. That's what brothers should do. I learned from my sister, and from your father too, that it's good for me to take it easy once in a while."

Jan nodded at this, his mood lightening a bit.

Jack pried Bjorn off and let him play with his older brother. Jan surprised them by running ahead and joining Runo and Bjorn as the kept playing tag. Elsa was left to herself, with Jack approaching to accompany her. With one hand he reached out to brush her hair back and caress her face. Despite the sun, ice cold water still soaked her body.

He leaned in and his whisper tickled her ear. "You look so lovely when you're wet."

He pulled her into a tender kiss. Only when the couple broke apart they were aware of their sons watching. Jan and Runo quickly looked away in embarrassment.

Only Bjorn stared back with wide-eyed innocence. "Mama, that's not your cold face."

Elsa and Jack burst into laughter, laughing so hard that they leaned against each other.

"That's right, Bjorn," the queen finally said. "I don't need the cold face when it comes to Papa. There's no fear to hide. Only love to show."

"No fear, only love. No fear, only love." Jack and Elsa's youngest son said it over and over again on their way back to the castle.

Jan and Runo rode ahead, this time in animated conversation as they expressed their excitement over a chance to hone their powers and inner strength again.

'We really need to do this more often,' Elsa thought to herself. She was glad that the boys, even Bjorn, benefited from their trip to the river today. Jan may not have the raw talent and ease as his older brother. But as she had said to him, he could learn. She had intended to teach them just 1 lesson. But 2 was certainly better than 1.

Fear had to be let go so there would be room for love. Elsa went through much to fully grasp this. She hoped her sons could learn that in half that time.


End file.
